Islamabad – Under Siege

The capital has gone to the dogs or is it the police? A fantastic spectacle revealing our tolerance, discipline and respect for the word of rights and law is being played out in our fair city. News channels have been showing the police charges and tear gas all day alongwith fist fights, the protests and the arrests. The latest of course, is the attack on the Geo offices in Islamabad by members of the police force breaking windows, firing tear gas shells and harassing employees.

This comes in the wake of a day of clashes between protestors and the police on the occasion of the hearing of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry; where Islamabad has been more or less cordoned off with security checks on all entrance points and surveillance of vehicles.

Refraining from discussing the politics of the situation, is this really the face that we need to show to a world that already regards us with thinly veiled animosity and bias? Do we really need to prove that we are as close minded to concepts of justice, of human rights and of expression as they believe us to be?

I wonder where this exhibition leaves a government claiming to do things by the book?